Giant Spitting Cobra Discovered in Kenya

Reuters reports that a giant spitting cobra has been discovered in Kenya. The snake can spit venom several meters and carries enough venom to kill 15 or more people.

A giant spitting cobra, measuring nearly nine feet and carrying enough venom to kill at least 15 people, has been discovered in Kenya, a conservation group said on Friday.

WildlifeDirect said the snake it described as the world's largest had been recognized as a new species and named the Naja Ashei after James Ashe, who founded a snake farm on Kenya's coast where the massive serpents are found.

"A new species of giant spitting cobra is exciting and reinforces the obvious — that there have to be many other unreported species but hundreds are being lost as their habitats disappear under the continued mismanagement of our planet," said the group's chairman, Kenyan environmentalist Richard Leakey.

The best write-up and photographs (including action shots) on the giant spitting cobra can be found on this post on the WildLifeDirect's website.